23/08/2026
Food for thought …….
Edited to add - this wasn't meant to be a crucification or advice post - while I know everybody has the best intent with their comments, as a coach AND a mum, I'm well aware of what could have been done differently to keep my kids safe. Like we do with horses ourselves, I got comfortable with them around the kids and things slipped. We know it's safer to tie them up to rug - yet we still do it. We know not to stand behind them.... yet I guarantee most people do - until something like this happens! We are human....
Yesterday afternoon I was handed a pretty horrible reminder that no matter how much we love them, trust them and know them… horses are still horses.
When I was rugging back up after they had eaten dinner, Zoe was knocked over and then trampled by one of the horses. All four legs. 500 kg horse with shoes on.
Typing that makes me feel sick. And I can't stop replaying it over and over again. Thankfully, she is okay. After a trip to after hours she’s come home bruised, sore and very tired, but no broken bones or head trauma.
Zoe has grown up around the horses. Anybody that knows her knows loves being involved, loves helping, and absolutely hates being told to sit safely in the side-by-side while Mum does the jobs 🫠 I know there will be other horse mums who understand this juggle.
Our kids grow up in our world. They come feeding with us, sit in the side-by-side, open gates, fill buckets, "help" with jobs that would probably take a quarter of the time without them 😂 and gradually become part of the everyday running of horse life.
We're simultaneously trying to get everything done, teach them, include them, keep them safe and somehow have eyes in the back of our heads.
I was watching Zoe. I knew exactly where she was. But it literally took a split second.
One horse bit another, that horse moved quickly to get out of the way, and Zoe happened to be in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong moment. She was bowled over and ended up underneath them. And excuse my language here but f**k, it was scary.
There’s a huge part of me that wants someone to blame. I blame myself because I'm her mum and my job is to keep her safe.
And then there's another part of me that feels angry at the horses too - which is a really hard feeling to reconcile because they are the other things in this world that I love so bloody much.
But they weren't trying to hurt her. They were just being horses. And perhaps that's the biggest wake up call for both Zo and me.
For Zoe, I think it's the first time she's truly understood that the animals she absolutely adores can hurt her without ever meaning to.
And for me, it's been a pretty brutal reminder that familiarity can quietly change how we perceive risk. When you're around horses every single day, and your children have grown up amongst them, you know their personalities. You trust them. They're part of your family.
99.9% of the time, nothing happens.
Until it does..
Yesterday was a bit of an eye opener. There will be some firmer boundaries around what our little helpers can be involved in, regardless of how loudly they protest about being left in the side-by-side.. Not because I want my kids to be frightened, I want them to have a healthy respect for just how big, powerful and reactive they can be.
And maybe I needed reminding of that too.
Trying (alongside trying not the best myself up) to feel greatful for this lesson.
Grateful for after hours. Grateful for one tough little girl. Grateful that bruises, soreness and a very tired Zoe are all we're dealing with.
To all the other mums juggling kids and horses trying to get the jobs done while raising little humans who desperately want to be right there beside you doing them - give those little helpers an extra squeeze and don't be complacent.
And maybe remind them (and ourselves) that loving horses also means never forgetting what they're capable of.
